Welcome to the first Above and Beyond Support Spotlight from Activision Rewards!

Above and Beyond showcases Community members who are incredibly helpful in the Activision Support Forums, have earned a ton of Points and Badges, climbed the top of the Rewards Leaderboards, and more!

Above and Beyond Support Spotlight’s are chosen by the Activision Rewards team and are given an awesome Rewards Care Package from us including a custom Activision Rewards Badge (pictured above), Rewards Points, a Season Pass for Call of Duty Ghosts, and more.

This week, we’re talking to a familiar face from the Forums, Maccabi. Most of you probably recognize him from the 360 and General Discussion Forums in addition to his awesome help in the Support section. Learn more about Maccabi below and find out what makes him such a valued member of the Community!

Activision Rewards: Tell us a little about yourself and how you got into Call of Duty?

Maccabi:Well contrary to popular belief my real names Adam and not Maccabi, that name comes from my favorite Basketball team. I'm a card-carrying Call of Duty Fanboi, and rather diplomatically will say I sit just above the average age for a gamer. I am the clan leader for the Eu4m, which is the European contingent of the 4Rumboys, who are one of the oldest gaming communities to come from the CoD forums. I prefer playing in the hardcore playlists especially Kill Confirmed and Domination, but will venture into core as I really enjoy Blitz.

How I got into Call of Duty… well that one is easy as I still remember the exact day even though it was just over ten years ago. My neighbor knocked at my door and dragged me too his house telling me I had to see something that would blow my mind. He loaded up the Stalingrad level and my mind went pop! Ten minutes later we were in his car , headed to the local computer store to buy my copy. The rest, as they say, is history.

AR:You have an extensive history in the forums! How long have you been a part of this Community?

Maccabi:I think almost from the start, I was active on a lot of the Call of Duty community sites, and going way back old skool here, on what was the original Infinity Ward forums and the late and often lamented CharlieOscarDelta.com which slowly over time became the CoDHQ as we now know it.

AR:You’re very knowledgeable about Call of Duty Ghosts. How would you recommend a newcomer build up that expert amount of knowledge?

Maccabi:I would say head to and read the forums, and to use an often stated phrase, use the search function! We have a great community on the CoDHQ who will happily help new players out with advice and tips. There's some great threads that community members have started explaining how different aspects of the game work. In fact and as much as I like to think I know it all at times, I still find myself constantly replying to posts with "wow I never knew that, thanks!".

AR:Since Activision Rewards launched, you’ve earned over 30,000 Points and have been in the top Leaderboards each month. How do you do it?!

Maccabi:A Leaderboard to a Call of Duty player is like a red flag to a bull for us. I took to the Reward missions the same way I would an in game challenge and just grinded. I found a lot of the Missions were centered on stuff I already did, so having answers marked as correct and my comments liked soon added up to the top spot. I like it up here the views great! And although I'm not a competitive person *innocent whistle* I don't intend to relinquish the top spot that easily.

AR:Out of the Badges you’ve earned, which is your favorite?

Maccabi:Good question! I would have to say the Stay Classy or the Right On Badges, as it's a nice feeling when you log into the forums and see someone in the community has responded to something I have written with a like, or been able to sort their issue out because of something I suggested.

AR:Have you written any Guides, Walkthroughs, or FAQs for the Community before?

Maccabi:I'm probably best known in the community for my Elagaphant guides , which I used to write at the launch of ever new Call of Duty game. They explained how to optimize your connection and home networks for online gaming, and gave general information on how online games like CoD and the Internet works. I do occasionally still see people mention them still and link them on the forums which is a great feeling, A few times have had ISP CSR's suggest people find me on the forums or cite my guides when they have networking issues, which truth be told I do find slightly funny. I've also written a few guides relating to Clan Wars, but there are some great guides on nearly every subject relating to Call of Duty on the forums written by other members of the community and it would be remiss of me not to mention these and give props to the authors.

Maccabi:I like challenges, be it in solving someone’s issues, especially if it’s a networking issue or as we now have the Rewards program completing those Challenges to keep the others from nicking my top spot. Without trying to make this sound like an acceptance speech from the Oscars. I do have to add, some of my closest real life and online friends have come from the forums, and the opportunities I have been given again stem from my time here. So I think it’s important to give back to the community in some way as a thanks you.

AR: Out of your satirical Rewards Badge suggestions, which is your favorite and why?

Maccabi:Out of mine, it has to be my "Brothers in Arms" suggestion. Blaming your little brother for something has been a stable of the forums for years and is a long running joke in our community. Also ClaireJeepchicks "Crying game" suggestion (unlike a like due to realizing who made the comment) it really made me laugh as we have all done that at some time before on the forums.

That's it for this version of Above and Beyond! We hope you enjoyed learning about maccabi. Until next time, Soldiers.